“Are you feeling better now?” I asked after Yu An Xue had finished crying.

We were on the roof of the main campus of Shenzhen Magic High School, the same one where Feng Mian and I had been days ago. This girl before me had dashed out the door after seeing a particular person of unknown identity. The person was strikingly similar to herself, the only difference being the color of their hair and eyes – one had purple, one had pink. I had followed after her…in worry? I guess you could say that.

She wiped away the remaining tear in her right eye and nodded. Even after seeing her break down in front of me, I still couldn’t believe she was the same cold beauty the boys of Shenzhen worshipped and longed for, Yu An Xue.

“…I see,” I looked away from her and pondered what I should say next. But before I could, she took the initiative – which was something rare for her to do in a conversation.

“You…you said you would listen?” she asked timidly, just on the verge of weeping in tears once more.

“Yes.” I replied without any hesitation. If there’s one thing I can do, it’s keeping my promises. That held true even back when I didn’t have power. Especially if it’s a promise made to someone who had helped me before.

“…Okay. Then listen closely…I’m only going to tell this story once.”

*****

Once upon a time, there were two sisters. Two inseparable, twin-like siblings. Most people, even their own parents, just considered them twins – they were born with only a week’s difference of time, after all.

These two sisters soon grew up to be beauties, at the young age of 6. One had vivid pink hair and similarly colored eyes, the other brilliantly colored violet hair and deep purple eyes to go with it. The two had similar personalities as well – cold and distant to everyone, even their own family.

The only exception to their attitude was with each other. It was only with each other that they could open their hearts, spill their secrets, and show their true emotions. Truly, they were just like twins.

The girls lived happily this way. They only relied on each other, be it for learning, training, or playing. It was as if the two shared the same life, the same fate. But even so, no matter how much they tried, it was as clear as day that they were two separate girls, two disparate lives, and-

-Two very, very different destinies.

It happened on a ruthless, stormy night. A certain man invaded the Yu family mansion with an army of assassins, and demanded a child, preferably female. He also required this child to be one of the direct descendants of the Yu family, meaning one of the children that might one day succeed the family. His motives were unknown, but either way the Yu family wasn’t about to let this intruder just take away one of their heirs. They took the two sisters and kept them safe in a deeper part of the mansion, where they soon drifted off to sleep, unaware of the battlefield outside that was once their loving home.

A bloody battle ensued. The Yu family fought hard, but unfortunately, their patriarch was not present at the time. The elders have already sent him a message, and he is hurrying back as soon as he could. But it was too late. The guards and elders left behind had no way to fight back against hundreds of trained assassins, all Advanced Mage level…much less the man leading them, who had the aura of a Golden Monarch.

As the Yu family forces were depleting more and more, the elders held an emergency meeting. In order to save the family, one of the only two heirs of the Yu family would have to be given up. In the end, they placed the fate of the sisters all on one coin flip. They really…just couldn’t decide which one to abandon. The two were so similar, even in their studies and magic power. Their talent was unrivaled.

It was decided that if the coin came up heads, the elder sister with purple hair would be given away. If the coin came up tails, the little sister with pink hair would be given away…

…And the coin – came up tails.

The elders sent a servant to check on the two girls. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for the elders), the two were both soundly asleep in the hidden underground basement the elders had placed them in. The servant took advantage of this opportunity and picked up the one with pink hair…

But what they didn’t know, was that earlier that day, the two sisters had dyed each other’s hair a different color for fun. They were planning to wash it out the day after. The one with pink eyes now had purple hair, and the one with purple eyes now had pink. The servant had no way to check on their eyes since they were closed…

And so, the next morning, the girl with pink eyes woke up confused. Beside her where her beloved sister should’ve been, was now cold, empty space. She immediately got out of the bunker she had been placed in without being told the reason and began searching everywhere for her sister.

But…she couldn’t find her anywhere. Even their secret spots…not a single trace of her elder sister could be found. Torn and dejected, she murmured quietly in tears. “Hey…if this is a joke…it’s not funny…”

But no response came. It wasn’t a joke. It was harsh reality.

But she didn’t want to accept that. The girl barged into the elders’ room, and demanded to see her sister. The elders, considering her age, played dumb and all shook their heads in a ‘nothing-I-can-do’ gesture.

After spending the entire day searching everywhere for her sister, she came face-to-face with the facts.

Her beloved sister, with whom she had spent all these years with, was GONE. Dead or alive, she had vanished without saying anything to her precious little sister beforehand. At that moment, the now lonely pink-eyed girl didn’t know what to feel. Sorrow? Anger? Perhaps even…hatred?

No. From that day on, the girl was devoid of all emotions. She grew even more distant and cold to everyone else than before, having lost her only companion. She tried her best to forget about the person once known as her sister – and she had almost succeeded…

…Until the day she met her again, in the most unexpected way possible.

*****

“That’s…all.” Yu An Xue sniffed and wiped away a tear from her eye.

It seems she had begun crying once again somewhere while telling the story, but I was too engrossed to even notice. Perhaps that is not the right word to use in regards to someone’s tragic past…but the truth was, I really was surprised – fascinated at how similar the two of us truly were. Maybe…that was why she defended me? Did she see a small fraction of herself in me? There’s a high chance I would never know the answer.

She then continued. “It wasn’t until years later that I found out about the truth. The elders must’ve felt guilty hiding it from me all these years…and when I heard it, I just thought it should’ve been me, you know…it should’ve been me who was taken away…why did we choose to dye our hairs on that day…And just thinking about that makes my heart convulse in pain.”

“After hearing that…I’m not sure what I should say,” I replied – which was the truth. “So…the girl with purple hair that was sitting at my desk earlier…that was really your sister, huh?”

She nodded her head as if acknowledging that fact. “There’s no way I would mistake her…” she lifted her head and glanced far away at the distant sky covered in clouds, as if searching for something.

I continued. “By any chance…do you remember what day your sister was taken from you?”

“Huh? What does that have to do with anything…?” she asked, puzzled.

“Er…it’s just, the way you described that night…it fit the night when my parents were killed as well.”

Her beautiful pink eyes widened. “Let’s see…I think it was October 31st, 2014, 8 years ago.”

“October 31st, huh… ”

“Something wrong?”

I quickly snapped out of my trance and shook my head. “Er…no. It’s nothing. Just…my parents were also targeted by a group of assassins, on October 31st too. Though it was just last year.”

“…I don’t believe this is a coincidence,” she replied, narrowing her eyes. It seems she had calmed down and went back to being the cool beauty everyone knew.

“Indeed. I believe some sort of organization is committing evils every year, on October 31st.”

“Wait. That’s too far of a conclusion to jump to. We still don’t have any evidence, and I may be wrong about the date.”

“This year’s October 31st was also a rainy night, if I remember correctly, though I didn’t hear about any incidents, per se. Plus…I don’t believe you’ll be able to forget the day your family was taken away from you…” I said quietly and took a deep breath, but Yu An Xue still heard it. “Besides, I trust you.” I looked up and smiled to the best of my abilities.

She blushed faintly and avoided eye contact. “Y-You shouldn’t easily trust someone like that…”

I shrugged. “So…what’s your plan?” Without saying too much, she knew what I was referring to.

“I…I’ll try talking to her,” she replied, a hint of determination in her voice.

Come to think of it, I did overhear my parents talk about some girl going missing several years ago. I wonder…it’s a possibility. But that wasn’t going to help much, to be honest. And besides-

“Let’s head back to class then,” Yu An Xue stood up from the ground, brushing some dust off her skirt elegantly.

But wait. Class?

…

“Er…what’s the time right now?” I asked a question that I knew the answer to, despair painted over my face.

She glanced down at the watch on her left wrist, and reported the time back to me. “9:45 AM.”

…

“Shit! Class is almost over already…damn it…” I shot up and punched the steel door leading to the staircase.

Then, I heard a cute and soft laugh from beside me. “Huh?” I quickly turned around, surprised.

“W-What?” Yu An Xue stared back at me.

“W-Wait. Did you just…laugh?”

“Um…yes?” she tilted her head, confused.

“What the hell?! You can laugh?!”

She finally realize what I meant, and began shouting loudly. “H-Hey! I’m not a robot, you know! Actually, even robots can laugh if you program them to!”

“What the hell?! You can actually shout too?! What kind of spell was cast on you?!” I shouted right back.

And just like that, the two of us began having fun together, and unknowingly became friends – companions. Seeing her giggle and genuinely having fun like this, I was relieved. Perhaps…she had finally…after 8 years of loneliness…found another person she could trust? I didn’t know if I could live up to her expectations, but…I will certainly try my best.

As an aside, by the time we remembered about class, it was already lunch time. And so, we had to stay after school together to make up for our missing lessons, but that’s a story for another day.